Another "Ondoy" moment

Last Thursday was another terrifying and terrible experience for a lot of Filipinos who bore the brunt of Typhoon Ulysses (Vamco). The strong, howling winds reminded people of Yolanda (Haiyan), which devastated much of the Visayas a few years ago. Memories from the many news reports that showed the typhoon at its peak strength are still fresh in the minds of people and yet many still chose to stick around and stand by their belongings and properties. The floods that followed from even stronger rainfall across a wide area brought another painful memory of another typhoon - Ondoy (Ketsana). Ondoy-like rainfall and floods were all too familiar to a lot of people. In my mind that early Nov. 12 morning - "Here we go again." The only difference for me and my family now is that we were already secure in our flood-free home. We can only pray those in our old neighborhoods including my parents' are safe from another devastating flood.

The following photos I grabbed from the internet. Credits to the original person who posted them on Facebook. I use them to show the extent of the floods in Cainta, Marikina and lower Antipolo. The last time this happened was in 2009, the aftermath of Ondoy dumping more than a months rain in just six hours. No, Ulysses was no Ondoy (reports now state measurements to be more than a months rain over 24 hours).

View of Gil Fernando Avenue from the Marcos Highway overpass (photo from Facebook)

View of the Marcos Highway - Felix Avenue intersection with the Sta. Lucia Mall in the background. That's the Line 2 Extension above the overpass and flood. (photo from Facebook)

Tire-deep floodwaters on the parking slots of shops along Marcos Highway. The landmark McDonald's branch is seen in the background. (photo from Facebook)

View of Marcos Highway towards the Line 2 Emerald Station (photo from Facebook)

View of the flooded roads towards Sta. Lucia Grand Mall (photo from Facebook)

Photo taken by a friend who lives just across from Robinsons Metro East - vehicles crowd along the most elevated lanes of Marcos Highway

I have had more than my fair share of flood experiences starting from 1984 when I was still in high school. We had to leave our bungalow home to seek refuge in an abandoned factory. We had to wade in chest deep floods for about 400m before we got to safe grounds. Ondoy and the habagat floods from 2009 to 2012 were the last straw for me. Unfortunately, not everyone have the resources to relocate to "flood-free" areas and many choose to remain and reside in these flood-prone areas with the hope that government will improve their plight through flood mitigation projects. And if there were Ondoy-like floods, perhaps extend assistance for recovery. Is it resilience? Perhaps, but there should also be a call for accountability for those who are responsible for these man-made made disasters. Resources need to be allocated where they are needed the most - something that applies to a lot of other matters, not just flooding.

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